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Pretty straightforward, really. Were you ever what you would consider to be a fundamentalist? Meaning were you ever an active participant in a religion and of the conviction that the faith's doctrines and ideology were absolute truth?

I used to be a Christian fundie. I towed the party line on virtually every issue you can think of. But, just like they fear, enough science got through to derail the YEC which cast enough doubt on fundamentalist ideology for me to rid myself of it.

I'm religious and believe in God. Though i'm liberal enough that i can hardly call myself a christian.

By the strict definition of the word, I am a fundamentalist, seeing as though I do believe in the fundamentals of Christianity. But by the popular definition, I don't guess I am.

actually believing in the fundamentals of a religion isn't the only thing used to determine whether or not someone is a fundie. It's also determined by rigid adherence to those principles and often expressing intolerance to other viewpoints. as per dictionary.com.

i myself have never really been what you could consider a fundie. flip-flopped between a buncha different religions though, and have basically decided to stick with buddhist principles for now.

Well, sort of. I had considered myself "religious" in high school, even though I never went to church. I think I did it more out of being contrary to my brother, who was a rather strident atheist. I liked to needle him about how he was going to Hell.

Anyway, a good friend of mine was killed shortly after I graduated high school, and that sparked a bit of an emotional crisis in me for that summer and into my freshman year. I became a little obsessed with the afterlife (because I wanted to think my friend was happy-happy-wee! on the other side and I'd be able to see him again), and in particular I started reading some of those horrid books claiming that the end of the world was coming soon, based on revelation. One of them had done "calculations" based on YEC, and for some reason it didn't register with me to go "Wait a second, I know YEC is a crock of BS!" What can I say, I was in emotionally-disrupted la-la land.

In college, I joined the Christian fellowship group and became their Student Government rep. I quickly realized these people were not the kind of folks I wanted to be around. A few were very sweet, but clueless, while others were utter tools. I also fell in with a group of friends who were intelligent and non-religious, and it was pretty much overnight that I realized I didn't even believe in the BS I was practicing, I was just using it as an emotional crutch to cope with a traumatic event. I had no crisis of faith, because my faith wasn't real, and I just kind of shrugged and went on with my life. I did use my student government rep position to spring myself onto the executive board, and had nothing further to do with the fundie group.

So I was never really a fundie, I suppose. If someone had asked me if I honestly believed in Creationism at that time, I don't think I would have answered yes, although honestly I hadn't put much thought into by that point.

no.

I believe I'm god. So does that count?

i was VERY Catholic in high school. My mother was a teacher in a Catholic School. Although the seeds of dissent were there.

As a kid, my best friend's father was a baptist minister so I grew up in a very religious environment, so much so that I felt that it was the norm. As critical thinking developed, I became a more liberal christian. Then, one day I read the old testement cover to cover and realized just what a total asshole God was. His kid was okay though. Currently, left half of brain is atheist, while right side is still a bit christian, though still thinks god has to be a bit of a nutter.

I would consider myself fairly religious but do not take the Bible as literal fact. I think that's where the line tends to be drawn these days.

So no, I've never been a fundie.

No.

Though the correct term is "non-religious," not "irreligious."

But then one can be Christian without being branded a fundamentalist.

Raptor uses "Look Up"!

Irreligious

\Ir`re*li"gious\, a. [L. irreligiosus: cf. F. irr['e]ligieux.] 1. Destitute of religion; not controlled by religious motives or principles; ungodly. Cf. Impious.

Raptor gained resistance to "Nitpick"!

Well it sure as hell doesn't sound like a real word!

I haven't been christened, does that count?

Back in my first day at school, when we had religious education, I shocked the teacher by asking why he believes in Adam&Eve, when clearly Darwin rules. It was the first of many visits of my mother at school. But it gave me 2 free hours each week

Nope, lived in too many countries & cultures to become one and I just wasn't raised that way. While I know bits and pieces from perhaps 10 different religions or more and I'm familiar with about 3 of them, I've never practiced nor being involved in any organized religion.

Poll option added

In high school I was pretty Catholic, but it never got into fundamentalist territory.

I was a very progressive Christian up until college where the pushed to fundamentalism caused my deconversion.

By fundie, do you mean someone who beleives in, say, creationism. Or a religious biggot like the guy who writes those Chick Tract things ( i dont knwo his first name, just that he's called Chick)

Because they are two differnet types of people. Many religious people have come to accept science fact, while still beleieing in God, like me. While i dont hold Darwin in the same category as i do the Bible, i do know that certain facts, like evolution for one or the big bang, can be scientifically proven. This does not disprove teh existance of God, it merely, for me, adds a whole nother layer to it.

Others, however, like Chick, take religion and use it as a springboard for their own twisted ideology. That would be what i would call a fundie. Take note that these people also tend to be racists, homophobes, and biggots in more ways than merely their religious 'convictions', and while they may or may not bleieve in God they use it as a shield to spout their garbage nonetheless.

18-Till-I-Die wrote:By fundie, do you mean someone who beleives in, say, creationism. Or a religious biggot like the guy who writes those Chick Tract things ( i dont knwo his first name, just that he's called Chick)

Dictionary.Com wrote:fun·da·men·tal·ism ( P ) Pronunciation Key (fnd-mntl-zm)
n.
A usually religious movement or point of view characterized by a return to fundamental principles, by rigid adherence to those principles, and often by intolerance of other views and opposition to secularism

Ok, so it's the latter then.

I used to be anglican, lost faith at 12, went through a few short lived stages of trying to make black magic work, considering "a" god existed and wanted what's best, a deism of sorts, antitheism, scientific pantheism.

But never fundie, never creationist.

Never been religious in any strong sense of the word, and I became an atheist at the tender age of seven years old when I figured out that they were just telling us a bunch of fairy tales in religion class.

Edi

Meh, I was a fundy when I went to Sunday School when I was a little kid. I never felt any real attachment to it, so when I realized I was gay at around 12 (and then learned that the God-peddlers frown on such fun with lethal hatred and violence), it pretty much shattered any confidence I had in god. After all, his slaves^H^H^H^H^Hdisciples only did his bidding by their own admission, right? Plus Sunday School was so obviously composed of at least 90% 'Let Jaysus Ayitch Kariyst Sayve Yew Or Youre Burnin In Hayll!!!!' Sales Pitch Schtick I was considering dropping it anyway.

No More Magical Sky Pixie With Bloodlust A Mile Wide for me

I used to believe in God as a kid but I was never a fundie. I always had a more rational mindset and an interest in technical stuff that saved me from dipping to far into religion.

By the time I was halfway through highschool I was pretty much a deist. However, since I was never taught the finer points of logical reasoning I was easily drawn in by tinfoil hat stuff like alien abuctions, gov't conspiracies, and other crap like that.

Lol, I remember I once tried to rationalize the "miraculous" birth of Jesus by saying he could have just been created by aliens who were trying to help humanity.

But it wasnt all bad, and when I ended up coming across Mike's site a few years ago, my mind was ready for a wake up call and I finally fully deconverted to atheism.